What £40,000,000 could pay for instead of fund Jeff Bezos’ wedding in Venice

The wedding of Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez in Venice is so lavish it would make the Capital from The Hunger Games blush.

Five of the most extravagant hotels in the Italian city have been booked out to host up to 250 guests, like Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside Hollywood A-listers like the Kardashians.

Almost 100 private jets are landing at nearby airports such as Treviso and Verona, while Venice’s nine yacht ports have also been booked up for the event.

This is just a smidget of the display of wealth that feels less like a wedding and more like a coronation.

Flanked by other members of the ultra-rich, the Amazon CEO is rumoured to have spent £40 million on the spectacle.

Back in Britain, Metro looks at what the budget for a single wedding could fund.

One year of full-time childcare to 3,219 families

The cost of full-time nursery care in England (50 hours a week) for a child under two is around £12,425 per year, according to DayNurseries.co.uk.

This means that Bezos’ £40 million could help as many as 3,219 families with low income.

While this represents a price drop of 22%, when compared to 2024 – due to the government’s 15 funded childcare hours scheme – it is still a massive strain on working parents.

And Scotland and Wales have not seen the same reduction in costs, which only apply to England.

Free period products to 333,000 girls and women for one year

As the cost of living continues to bite, an ActionAid poll shows that one in five (21%) women and people who menstruate are now struggling to afford period products – up from 12% in just one year.

This amounts to an estimated 2.8 million people in the UK, putting around one million more people into period poverty versus last year.

Stock 5,000 food banks for one month

Trussell Trust figures show that the average monthly stock need per food bank is around £8,000.

Using the £40 million, Bezos could have funded 5,000 such institutions for an entire month.

Around 2.3 million people – representing 3% of the UK population – lived in households that had used a food bank in the previous 12 months between 2023 and 2024. This includes 6% of children and 3% of working-age adults.

10 million meals for schoolchildren

In January 2025, almost 2.2 million pupils were eligible for the free school meal programme, 25.7% of all students – and representing an increase of 77,700 pupils from the previous year.

1.4 million emergency dental appointments

The standard NHS cost for an emergency dental appointment in England is £27.40, covering urgent treatment like pain relief, temporary fillings, and an initial examination.

In February, the government rolled out 700,000 additional appointments as statistics from the GP Patient Survey 2024 show that around one in four patients who tried to see an NHS dentist in the past two years were unable to book.

Community cold weather shelter for around 250,000 people for 30 days

As many as 1,474 people died while homeless – one person every six hours – according to data from 2023. Freezing temperatures during the winter months often increase that number.

Tuition fees for 1,300 students for Bachelor degrees in university

Tuition fees for UK students in England and Wales have been capped at £9,535 per year for the 2025/26 academic year, after the latest increase in December.

Research by Ipsos in 2023 showed that nearly one in two school leavers have reconsidered going to university because of the rising cost of living. 

Furthermore, 31% believe university is not affordable. A survey also found that a quarter of Britons do not believe university is worth it for young people, with fees and student loan debt being major contributing factors.

8,000 initial asylum claims

The cost of an initial asylum claim in the UK varies, but can range from £3,800 to £5,000 for legal representation, plus additional costs for accommodation and support.

Figures by the Migration Observatory show that the UK’s asylum backlog – defined as the total number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision – stood at around 91,000 at the end of 2024..

That was 31% lower than the record levels reached in 2022, though still high by historical standards.

Of those waiting for an initial decision, around 50,000 people (55%) had been waiting for more than six months.

1,100 assistance dogs for disabled and autistic people

Raising and training an assistance dog can cost anywhere between 22,000 to £55,000, depending on the type of dog and organization.

Support Dog, a charity that provides its services entirely for free, says that the cost to support a dog partnership, from initial training, to client training and support throughout its working life, is approximately £36,000.

Rewild 11,420 acres of land

Declining biodiversity and habitat loss are just some of the reason some parts of the UK are in a desperate need of rewilding.

While only an estimated 1% of Britain’s land is currently rewilding, there is a growing movement to increase this to 30% by 2030, according to Rewilding Britain.

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